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Diriyah v Al Taawoun - Saudi Pro LeagueGetty Images
Translated by

1 of 35: back three sink in the Roshn League

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Saudi newspaper "Asharq Al-Awsat" laid bare the numbers in a report: the three clubs have managed just a single win across their 35 combined matches, losing 23 and drawing 11. They have gathered only 14 points from a possible 105, a tally that spells out the depth of their early-season misery.

The trio's combined win rate sits at a dismal 2.9%. Between them they have scored 23 goals, 0.66 per game, while shipping 64 at a rate of 1.83, laying out the shape of a crisis that threatens their Pro League survival.

Al-Fateh hold the only win, with their defence their weak point

Among the strugglers, Al-Fateh look to be in relatively better shape. They sit 16th on 6 points, having won once and drawn three times against eight defeats across 12 matches.

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Holding the trio's only win hasn't lifted them clear of the drop zone, though, thanks to their glaring defensive problems. Their net has been breached 25 times against 10 goals scored, handing them the worst defence of the three.

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National coach Khalid Al-Atawi opened the season at the helm, before the management turned to Morocco's Jamal Sellami. The switch failed to deliver the improvement everyone expected, bar that solitary win, leaving the results crisis firmly in place despite the change in the dugout.

Al-Taawoun without wins despite their Asian success

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Al-Taawoun, meanwhile, face an even knottier crisis given where they have been in recent seasons. They have dropped to 17th on 5 points, with five draws and seven defeats and not a single win in the opening 12 rounds.

Their biggest problem is a blunt attack. They have scored just 6 goals, half a goal per game, the feeblest return among the bottom three, while their net has been breached 20 times.

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Recent matches show exactly how many points their failure to hold a lead has cost them. They led Al-Ettifaq through an Abderrazak Hamdallah penalty, only to concede an equaliser in the 90th minute and settle for a point when they desperately needed three.

Before that, Al-Taawoun were on course for a point against Al-Qadsiah. A fatal goal in the 96th minute put paid to that, and the points keep draining away.

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The irony cuts deep. Al-Taawoun have sealed qualification to the round of 16 of the AFC Champions League Two despite failing to win a single league game, which begs the question of why they cannot carry their continental form into domestic competition.

Serbia's Zarko Lazetic began the season in charge before his sacking in the wake of a 6-0 hammering by Al-Hilal, with compatriot Vuk Rasovic brought in. The change has yet to end the drought.

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Abha in last place, with a new change on the bench

Rock bottom sit Abha with 3 points from 11 matches, three draws and eight defeats without a win, their players scoring 7 and conceding 19.

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Difficult as their position is, they took a point from their last outing against Al-Ittihad, a result that could offer a morale boost, especially as it arrived alongside Croatian Teo Perica taking charge in place of his sacked compatriot Damir Buric.

Abha's management had gambled on Buric, the man who led the team to promotion, before pulling the trigger and promoting a technical director from the age-group ranks in a bid to spark the change that returns them to winning ways.

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The break is a last chance before the matches to escape relegation

"Asharq Al-Awsat" reckons the current break is a crucial window for all three coaching staffs to reassess performance, nurse injured players back, build fitness and iron out the errors that have dogged them through the opening rounds.

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Al-Fateh in particular must shore up their fragile defence. Al-Taawoun's job is more about sharpening their attack and getting injured players back, while Abha wait for the managerial change to show up in results and for that recent draw with Al-Ittihad to become a springboard.

Head-to-head clashes between the bottom clubs carry double the weight, none more so than the eagerly awaited Al-Taawoun and Abha fixture after the break. It offers one of them a shot at a first win to end the slide, while a draw could leave both still suffering.

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Tough tests await all three after the break. Al-Taawoun face Al-Ahli, Abha meet Al-Shabab and Al-Fateh collide with Al-Riyadh.

The season remains young, yet if these rates hold, whether the shot-shy attacks or the leaky defences, escaping relegation will only get harder as the rounds tick by, all the more so because the coaching changes have yet to bring about the transformation required.

Senior Editor and Shift Manager at kooora.com

I began my journalism career in 2012, working across several prominent media outlets, and officially joined the Egyptian Journalists Syndicate in 2015.

Throughout my career, I have combined field reporting, in-depth analysis, professional translation, and the creation of sports reports and series from a perspective that differs from the mainstream.

In 2017, a pivotal milestone came when I joined Kooora, the leading Arabic sports website, where I took on diverse responsibilities including supervising the translation and analysis sections, as well as managing editorial shifts. This experience provided me with extensive expertise in producing high-quality sports content.

I have loved football since childhood. I still remember the first match I ever watched—the 1994 World Cup final between Brazil and Italy. My parents woke me up at dawn to watch it, and I was just six years old at the time.

Since that night, my passion for the game has never faded. It has grown steadily and eventually became the center of my professional life.

Today, I specialize in professional translation and creative sports writing, including storytelling, journalistic scenarios, and unconventional analytical reports.

My favorite football memory is Egypt’s qualification for the 2018 World Cup after the dramatic late moments against Congo.

My all-time favorite lineup includes:

Goalkeeper: Manuel Neuer

Defense: Dani Alves – Sergio Ramos – Paolo Maldini – Marcelo

Midfield: Sergio Busquets – Andrés Iniesta – Luka Modrić

Attack: Lionel Messi – Ronaldo Nazário – Cristiano Ronaldo

I have published many creative pieces on Kooora. Some of my favorites include:

“A Painful Regret for Ferguson… Paolo Maldini Saves Guardiola in the Champions League Final!”

“Kooora Story: Ronaldo’s Juventus Clashes with Ramos’ Real Madrid… Choose Your Favorite Ending”

“A Journalistic Scenario… The Night Florentino Pérez Cried”

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